Cessna crashes into culvert at Whitsunday Airport

A delicate recovery mission unfolded after a pilot failed to navigate a runway. Fire crews rushed to the airfield amid reports 900L of fuel was leaking.

The plan was to soar to the skies, but the pilot of a Cessna Citation Mustang did not get past a drainage ditch at Whitsunday Airport while taxiing from the hangar to the runway.

In a quirky mishap, the right wing of the plane hit the ground after the right main landing gear entered the ditch.

No injuries were reported, though a fire crew was called to the scene with reports of 900L fuel leaking from the plane.

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman said the agency gathered relevant information on the incident, including a report from the pilot, and concluded that it did not warrant further investigation.

“The ATSB assessed that conducting a transport safety investigation would be unlikely to result in any new safety issues being discovered,” the spokesman said.

“The incident has been added to our database and will provide useful data for ongoing analysis of trends and future investigations.”

No passengers were on board.

Clayton’s Towing recovered the plane on Thursday with airbags.

“Trucks, trains, boats, airplanes, we recover them all,” the company said on its Facebook page.

Whitsunday Airport is a private airpark east of Airlie Beach catering to commercial and private aircraft.